


Awning

by quartetship



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Trans Character, commission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-23 22:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8344792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartetship/pseuds/quartetship
Summary: Kent hated when it rained.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jellyfishfrost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellyfishfrost/gifts).



> This little fic was written on commission for the lovely and wonderful Bell, who's art makes the world a better and brighter place. Hope you enjoy, dove! (As an additional note, I'd love to write more of this au for you sometime, and explore Kent's identity and insecurities more. BRING ON THE ANGST, AMIRITE?)
> 
> \--

The forecast for nearly a week had been grey skies and drizzle throughout the days. Standing with his face to the wind, Kent pulled his oversized jacket tighter around his shoulders and shuddered in the chilly breeze. The world was dark and dreary, as far as he could see. 

Kent hated when it rained. 

It reminded him far too much of storms past, storms that other people hadn't seen him weather. It was raining every time, it seemed. Every time he had been at war with himself, with his body. Every time he fought with the people who were supposed to love and protect him, but could hardly  _ accept _ him for who he was. Every time that Jack pulled away, confused him, broke a promise, told a lie, broke his heart - every time the storm inside had raged, the weather outside had gone dark to match. 

It wasn't that Kent wasn't to blame, as well. Theirs was a splintered past, so rough in spots that it had threatened to break him, altogether. Only by virtue of time and the effort of sanding away the sins of years prior with patience and love had the road they walked become a smooth one. On the days when the sky darkened and opened above him though, Kent seemed acutely aware of the scars still left by that suffering, physical and mental, both on his flesh and his spirit. It was on those days that his tears would fall along with the rain, and he would find himself alone, staring out across the grey horizon and welcoming the rumble of thunder to quiet his thoughts. 

He didn't want Jack to see him this way. He knew Jack would console him, and a large part of Kent didn't believe that he deserved it. Maybe another, small but stubborn part of him believed that Jack deserved to cry as well, but they had both done their fair share of that. 

Kent told himself that he had moved on and found forgiveness - both given and received - and usually he thought it to be the truth. But when the rain fell, so did his confidence, and he would wander out onto the front steps of their little townhome to watch the world blur into a drab, muted palette. 

He heard the footsteps and the creaking of the metal door swinging open behind him, but he did not turn. A moment later, a hand found his shoulder, a warm contrast to the cold rain against his face. Kent leaned into the touch, out of sheer force of habit.

“What're you doing out here, Kenny?” Jack’s voice was tired; he knew the answer to his question before he asked it. He squeezed at Kent’s shoulder gently, and Kent reached for his hand on reflex. Threading their fingers together, he breathed in the moment, waiting for his voice to steady before he dared to speak. He hated when it cracked, especially in front of Jack. 

“Just watching the rain,” he replied, not altogether dishonest. He could hear Jack clicking his tongue, but he said nothing else. He knew where the conversation was headed, so he might as well let it happen. 

“Rains all the time, Ken. Doesn't mean we have to stand around and worry about it.” Jack sounded more awake as he moved closer, lazily pressing lips to Kent’s neck. Kent drew a ragged breath and nodded; they both knew he wasn't talking about the storm outside. 

“Why don't you step out of the rain for a bit?” Jack persisted. “You can come inside any time you want. You know that, right?”

Kent nodded. He did know. Even if he didn't feel it, he knew it to be true. 

“Sometimes I feel like I  _ belong _ out here,” he said, quiet. There was a stubbornness about him that he assumed drove people away, but it only seemed to pull Jack closer to him. That day was no exception. 

“Why’s that?” He asked, tugging at Kent’s shoulder. Kent sighed. Jack knew damn well why. 

“You go back to what you know, right? Spent so much time out in the rain…” He trailed off. This time when Jack pulled at his arm, Kent let himself be turned to face him, bangs and eyelashes dripping from the rain. Jack smoothed wet hair back from his face, pulling him in close. 

“You don't have to be there, anymore. I know you spent a lot of time under dark clouds. We both did, and it's probably about seventy five percent my fault.”

“Maybe more like fifty.” Kent argued, the side of his face resting on Jack’s shoulder. Jacked laughed, a deep, rumbling sound, far more beautiful than the thunder it masked. He reached up to paw at Kent’s hair again, swirling fingers artlessly through it as he walked the two of them back toward the door, beneath the shallow awning that hung above it. 

“Regardless, just because we've been there before doesn't mean we have to go back. And even if we’ve  _ gotta _ walk through the rain once in awhile, we've got an awning, right? You and me.” He looked up, indicating the tangible shelter above them, and Kent's eyes followed his. Before he knew it, Jack was looking back at him again, leaning forward to press a kiss to the tip of his nose, and then his lips, humming against them, content. Kent let himself be held, let himself be kissed, and let himself believe that Jack was right. 

When Jack spoke again, it was soft, patient. “Come on in out of the rain, Kenny. Nothing to do today; let's go back to bed.”

Later that evening, secure beneath the blankets of their shared bed Kent buried his face in his pillow and breathed. He was warm there beside Jack, and safe from the storm, inside and out. There was still a lingering fear inside of him that couldn't be so quickly silenced, but it was no longer a tornado, destroying every good thought in its path. Rather his anxieties rumbled away, growing ever more quiet as they disappeared into the distance with time. One day, he would love himself the way his boyfriend did, feel perfect just the way he was, even covered in the scars seen and unseen. One day, he wouldn't fear the rain any longer. One day, there would be no need. Until then, he had a warm bed to share with the person he loved most, a hard earned reward for the years apart they both had weathered.

If there was anything he had learned of life, it was that storms would come and go. There was no way to stop the rain from falling. With Jack beside him though, Kent knew that he could weather it. 

He only needed to remember to step beneath the awning. 


End file.
